This invention relates to the field of automatic test equipment, and more particularly to a keyboard terminal for entering test programs into computerized automatic test equipment (ATE).
Typically, sophisticated ATE configured as an automatic test station finds wide application in the avionics instrumentation field. Examples of such ATE are found in the computerized automatic testers (CAT-series) sold by the assignee herein, Grumman Aerospace Corporation. Automatic testing of the various electronic systems and subsystems of an aircraft may be readily conducted by means of such automatic test equipment in conjunction with user-generated test programs.
ATLAS is a high level computer programming language intended specifically for automatic test programming. It is at this time becoming standard, on an industry-wide basis, and is likely to be used as the source for the great majority of test programs developed over the next several years.
As a programming language, ATLAS is characterized by the use of common English words and grammer. For this reason, it requires more characters per instruction, as compared to other, older mathematical format test languages. Accordingly, more time and effort are required of programmers and test engineers who use the ATLAS language. In addition, test programs written in the ATLAS language often contain errors introduced by the normally lengthy typing process. Accordingly, conventional keyboard terminals for entering test programs written in an English-format computer programming language, such as ATLAS, are afflicted with the same drawbacks and limitations.
An optimal keyboard for entering test programs written in an English-format computer programming language into computerized automatic test systems should have several basic capabilities. First, it should reduce the physical time and effort required to enter program words into the system. Second, it should be relatively error-free. And finally, it should have the capability to generate an entire word of the programming language in response to relatively few keystroke entries.
It is accordingly a general object of the present invention to overcome the aforementioned limitations and drawbacks and to provide a keyboard terminal for entering test program words into computerized automatic tests systems having all of the desirable attributes noted above.
It is a specific object of the present invention to provide an ATLAS language keyboard terminal.
Other objects will be apparent in the following detailed description and the practice of the invention.